Every year, when the trees begin to bud and the flowers start to bloom, you know it is time to starting thinking of spring cleaning ideas. Just as the earth prepares itself for a new season of growth, you must prepare your home to take on the upcoming summer months. Winter can do some harmful damage to the exterior of your house, but you also need to clean the inside too. Spring cleaning ideas can be quick and easy, especially if you can get everyone in the family involved.

When you clean your house, you don’t normally do a heavy duty cleaning job because of the time and effort it takes. This is why it is good once a year, in the spring, to get all the nooks and crannies free of dust and dirt. During the winter, it is hard to keep the outside of your home clean because of cold temperatures, snow, and ice. Leaves and debris collect around the yard and on the roof, leaving your home at risk for potential disaster when temperatures finally start to warm up.

When you are getting ready to do a complete cleaning overhaul of you home, there are a few things you should do beforehand. Meet with your family and pick a weekend ahead of time. Make sure everyone in the family understands that the weekend will be dedicated to cleaning so that no one makes plans. You also need to go through all your cleaning supplies and find out what you will need. This prevents last minute trips to the store, which can eat away at your spring cleaning time. Now you are ready to clean.

Cleaning the Outside of the Home

Before you start on the outside of the home, be sure you have a few helpful tools. You will probably need a tall ladder, a pair of sturdy gloves, a few buckets and your watering hose. The first thing to tackle when you are cleaning the outside of your home is the gutters and downspouts. Harsh winters allow leaves and debris to collect in your gutters and in the elbows of your downspouts causing major water problems for your roof and exterior walls. If the leaves are damp, you will need to have a scoop to collect debris and put it in a bucket. If the leaves are dry, you can use a leaf blower to clean the gutters faster. When on a ladder, always use extreme caution and have someone outside with you to help in case trouble arises.

Other spring cleaning ideas for the outside of your home include checking the outside windows and doorframes. The caulk and rubber sealants can get damaged by severe winter temperatures, creating gaps which can cost you money on your heating and cooling bills. Replace any of the damaged caulking with another sealant that has a longer life expectancy. After checking the windows and doors, your next plan of action is to check the roof.

During drastic changes in temperatures, your roof and flashings can take a beating that can lead to cracks. If the cracks are not discovered and repaired, you could have severe water damage in your home from a leak in the roof.

The safest thing to do when checking your roof is to call a professional roof inspector or contractor. They will have the proper equipment needed to do a thorough inspection. Plus, they may be able to find things your untrained eye could overlook by accident.

Spring cleaning ideas also involve checking the limbs and branches of any trees in your yard, especially trees that are close to your home. Branches that don’t have any leaves or buds on them may be dead and can easily break off with the slightest breeze. If the limbs fall close enough to your home, or to power lines on your property, major damage could occur. The safest thing is to keep your trees pruned back to you don’t have to worry about a spring storm knocking a branch and damaging your roofline or knocking out your power.

Cleaning the Inside of Your Home

Spring cleaning ideas do not apply to just the outside of your home. There are several problem areas you should check and repair on the inside of your home. One common mistake families make is to forget to clean out their refrigerator coils every six months to a year. Keeping these coils clean can help your refrigerator run more efficiently, saving you a few extra dollars on your energy bill. To clean the coils, you should first unplug the refrigerator. Then you can either use a vacuum or wet cloth to wipe it down.

The dryer is the other piece of equipment many people forget to check, which can end up being extremely dangerous as lint and dust builds up after repeated use. To clean the lint catcher in your dryer, you should clean the vent inside the dryer with the hose of your vacuum. Then pull the dryer slightly away from the wall to reach the hose that connects to the wall. This is where fires often start if lint gets caught. Either vacuum the hose, or you may just want to replace it with a new one.

Other things to add to your indoor spring cleaning tips are to check all the smoke and carbon dioxide detectors in your home and replace them with fresh batteries. Replace the filters in your heating and cooling systems to help control dust and allergens inside your home. Other things you can do as part of spring cleaning is to deep clean areas of your home you normally just “graze” over. Perhaps you re-wax your wood floors, or touch up scuffs and marks on your paint inside the home. Each home will have its own unique areas that need to be addressed, depending on your family’s daily habits.

Getting the Family Involved

Other ways to make spring cleaning fun and a little less daunting is to get the family involved. When you have extra sets of hands to help, the tasks won’t take as long to complete. But how do you get your family excited about spring cleaning ideas? One way is to make cleaning a game.

Divide into teams and challenge each other to win a prize after all the chores are completed. Or tell everyone that after spring cleaning is over, you will all go out to eat or catch a new movie at the theater.

When you want the family to be involved, you also need to make sure everyone knows the date you plan to hold your spring cleaning marathon. Once you set a date, be sure everyone in the family is on board and ready to go. One thing to remember when getting your family involved is to make chores age-appropriate. Younger children will not be able to handle dangerous or difficult tasks, but they can help sort and carry supplies to other members of the family.

Spring cleaning may not be something you look forward to doing every year, but it is something that is extremely important to help keep your house running properly. You keep your car running efficiently by getting regular tune-ups, and the same principle goes for your home. Part of the responsibility of owning a home is to make sure you keep it properly maintained. If you keep using these spring cleaning tips, you can maintain your home’s value.

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